First published 2005
Karen sits on death row in a Texas prison at twenty-nine, condemned for killing multiple men who had beaten her. She had turned to prostitution to support her drug-addicted lover, taking dangerous risks on the streets. During one sweltering Texas night, she shot Henry without clear reason, a man whose only crime was crossing her path. Five years later, Henry's sensual widow Celia still cannot recover from her husband's death. Franny, a twenty-nine-year-old doctor torn between marriage and an overwhelming urge to escape, finds herself drawn inexorably to the prison and Karen's suffering. The three women's lives intersect across Manhattan and Gatesville, Texas, where cowboy boots echo on pavement, Tex-Mex restaurants fill the air with greasy aromas, and sterile execution chambers house the machinery of death. Despite their crossing fates, something larger emerges around these women like the vast Texas sky: the possibility of solidarity, redemption, and love.
Genres: fiction, drama, literary-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, redemption
Setting: Gatesville, Manhattan, Texas
Period: Contemporary
322 pages · Paperback · BUCHET CHASTEL
Content warnings: addiction, death, murder